pedestrians. i'm impressed by their safety record in north beach and fisherman's wharf, though it should be noted that in both of those locations, they operate the segways on the roadway and off the sidewalks. there was a study done in washington, d.c., that found that the majority of segway injuries were caused by people on tours like this, so respectfully, we ask that recon park only allow -- rec and park only allow segways on the roadways and not on pedestrian paths to be consistent with the city policy outside of rec and park property. thank you very much. supervisor mar: thank you. mr. ray holland from the planning association for the richmond.

>> first of all, i would like to say we do not oppose segways in the park. we supported. most importantly, we support new revenue streams for the department, and we think this is a realistic one. what we oppose is having them operated on trails and pathways. we think it ought to be just like the rest of the city on the streets. we also think it should not be just to the eastern part of golden gate park. there are some unused streets in the western part of the park that not have cars on them at all. that is a remote part of the park that most people do not visit, and i think it would be wise to use that. i want to point out that on the display of there, the safety issue was always looked at as one two parties confront one another on a pathway or trail.

our concern is the opposite -- when at four miles an hour, they will overtake pedestrians. especially today. i'm a bicyclist. i ride in the park every day. when you come up behind pedestrians, especially if they happen to have ipads in their ears, they are completely oblivious to the rest of the world -- if they happen to have ipods in their ears. they do not know you are behind them. that is a potential danger, and i think that is probably the issue. a park is supposed to be a place of respite, and the complaints we get from our members is they want to just go over and have a nice, quiet walk in the park, and this is a motorized vehicle. it is like the elephant in the room. you may want to deny it is there, but it is there. supervisor mar: can you reiterate the position? you are supportive of segways,

but you would like to see them limited or eliminated from trails and pathways? >> correct. i also might point out that the pathways they pick vary from excuse pathways to those dedicated only for pedestrians and joggers, so you are going to have a real problem in what the rules are. supervisor mar: there was mention that there were some adjustments made with strawberry hill take it out, and you mentioned that there is one around the lower music concourse. you know the park better than maybe most people, and i know the rhododendron dell -- recently, the pavement has been approved in the past are very wide, so that is different than the narrow pathways to, like, seventh avenue, for example, or

behind the conservatory of flowers. are there specific places you have concerns about? >> the other is the redwood forest to the north of jfk park. they have signs that were recently put up there about being prohibited for bicyclist. the reason is because they got complaints from pedestrians walking through the dells down below. they did not want bicycles there. if they did not want bicycles there, why would you but segways -- why would you put segways there? supervisor mar: i would just like to ask people if they try to be sustained, especially if somebody has already made the point that they have already made. whatever people are the representatives of the electric tour company should speak first.

[reading names] those are the electric tour company folks. people can just line up and speak one after the other if you like. >> i'm not on that list because i thought i was speaking with nick. i'm the president of the electric tour company. good to be with you guys again. been spending more time in this

building in the last six months than i have in my entire life in san francisco. it has been great, and a good lesson in civics from a person who grew up in louisiana where civics is somewhat challenged. we have been operating in san francisco since 2004. i wanted to make a couple of quick corrections. the top speed limit our tours to is 10 miles an hour. the only time we exceed the 4 miles an hour speed limit is usually on a designated by trail or going around stow lake on the trail. honestly, we are stopping a lot. the second thing, as one of my staff members will be talking about, is our etiquette. we do address the issue of overtaking people. a couple of things i wanted to add -- we have been operating 205,000 hours. i did the mileage the other day. we did about 475,000 miles on segways in san francisco.

we have maintained in excellent safety record. segways are 10 years old now. this is not a new thing.we have- we have been out in said francisco for seven years. we have a great business experience on paths, trails, skills, all sorts of things. one of the other things on our regular tours we operate, and we have five different routes in san francisco, we go through 100 intersections a day. that is thousands of times that we come across the public on foot, in addition to them jumping out between cars. anyway, my staff is going to talk about some different points. we know we have a lot of speakers here. we shut down our entire company today to come to this hearing. we employ a lot of folks. they all look like smirched like -- look like smurfs today.

i apologize. that is our winter uniform. anyway, we are here to answer -- [bell rings] thank you. >> thank you for the opportunity to speak today. i live in the nob hill area. in one of the two managers in the golden gate park. tour electric company -- electric tour company runs a safe tour. i'm in favor of the existing five-year contract being allowed to operate on this route and know that in the company will continue to run a safe and informative tour. i will look to go over a few highlights and majority answers for a couple questions on the survey. the second question was did you feel the park pathways and trails were a safe way to visit locations on the tour?

the fourth question was whether interactions between tourists and park visitors were safe on both parties. the overwhelming answer on these was yes or a positive version. responses include the golden gate park is a large segway park larges -- is a large part and -- is a large park and segways allow more people to see more of it. it allows for closer connections with the plants then if we have been restricted to formal paved roads. supervisor mar: do you know off the top of your head with the

demographics of the users of the segways are? i think it cost about $70 for several hours, including the training. people with limited mobility or maybe people are older that might not be able to walk or bike. >> a huge demographic of people come between the ages of 40 to 60. a lot of these people could walk with canes or something like that, so we get a lot of people who are not as active as i am or someone else who goes on the tour and a perfectly fine for two and a half hours on a segway, which they could not do walking. supervisor mar: you are one of the several managers for the company? >> correct. the majority of the answers to question 7, followed by the ones i gave you, were also absolutely and yes, which were positive

answers, given to all the people and the e-mails. i also have the survey for you. supervisor mar: thank you. if people could keep coming forward one after the other. thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. i would like to thank you for the opportunity to speak before you. i lived in richmond neighborhood, and i have been a segway tour guide for several years now. i used to do tours in philadelphia, and our route was similar in scope to our route in golden gate park. in philadelphia, we also had mixed use trails and it included about half a mile bicycle trails, and also, the area of around both house road, which is a congested pedestrian area, and

i'm not sure exactly how many tours i gave, but i would estimate of around 500, and we never had any incidents with collisions with pedestrians or anything like that. having come out here and started working with these guys, i can say that the people who go out here are much better prepared to use the segway. they have a higher degree of competency after the training they go through, which is very formal and standardized. also, i want to point out that i believe the no bike signs are actually surrounding an area that has bite jumps and stuffed -- bike jumps and stuff that i think were built surreptitiously. also, my time in working in the park, it has been about 40 days,

and i have had several employees and staff -- they have all really enjoyed it and express their thanks that we are sort of giving people a way to have easier access to their work because they are out there taking care of these beautiful areas that are often sort of missed by visitors to the city because they are less accessible on foot and people do not know they are there. we all use the park a lot -- [buildings] thank you -- [bell rings] thank you. >> i have been a manager at the fisherman's wharf location for almost a year. i was born in and and a current resident of san francisco. a lot to talk to you briefly about the way we train our guests with a focus on courtesy and safety. we use a scale to check the minimal way. it is very important. every guest must review and sign

a waiver and wear a helmet and bright reflective vests. we start by training our guests on the basics of safety and gives us a chance to meet the one on one and is -- assess how comfortable they are which is important so that throughout the rest of the training, we can pay special attention to guessed that may need additional support. we send them through a small obstacle course of collapsible cones to make sure they are provision -- proficient with the crucial emergency stock, which takes some time to learn and care to teach. they also need to experience the speed limit, which feels a bit like the segways pushing back against you. it is an unusual sensation, and we want to make sure guests are totally comfortable with it before they leave. will discuss how we are passed and passed by guest on the trails. guests practiced on inclines and navigating trails properly.

we practice with the alert bells on each unit for reviewing all points once again, silent, in- year radio receivers for navigation and safety issues -- in-ear radio receivers. we have had guests with limited range of motion take the tour who appreciate the limited freedom. not everyone ride -- not everyone can ride safely, so sometimes, our job includes denying people permission. we are not comfortable sending someone out, they will not go. we find in training to accommodate a wide range of riders -- [bell rings] >> good morning. i have a very nice letter written by an enthusiast, and she writes, "as you know, i feel

passionate that your company is doing a wonderful service for the park, san francisco, and the people lucky enough to get a reservation on your segway tour. if i could have spoken at the hearing, i would emphasize that your safety training is not only very thorough but as a fun and memorable part of the experience. every minute spent on safety was important and was done extremely well. each of your trainers that individual attention to insure that everyone had requisite safety skills and to make sure everyone felt comfortable individually and as a group. as i mentioned, the city was responsible for implementation of many miles of bicycle trails on the streets in the area. i'm also familiar with the importance of share the road rules related to buy cigarettes, cars, and pedestrians. the segway tour and safety rules and raise the necessary ingredients for successful and safe sharing of the golden gate

park assets available to all who visit. good more -- good luck this morning at the hearing. there is no doubt in my mind that the visitors all benefit greatly from the segway experience. i have driven through the park for 20 years and not until i took your tour did i realize the significance of the plants, structures, pathways, and activities that are there. the duty of every turn was amazing, and without your tour introducing me to the parks so intimately, i probably would not have discovered many of the things i will come back to experience in the future. i now feel that i will return to san francisco and the park much more often, and i have expanded my wish list of things to do greatly. i will also be a much better tour guide for friends and family visiting the area, and i have even discover that i have a new-found and better understanding of what it might be like to be handicapped and not have the use of -- [buildings -- [bell rings]

thank you. >> i want to thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. the park is right outside my front door. i am the other assistant manager, and today, i am sharing with you the list of etiquette rules we make sure every single guest has heard before they leave our training area. first of all, your tour guide will set the speed for your tour. if you disregard your guide's instructions, you will be removed without a refund. second, everyone has the right of way over a segway -- pedestrians, bicyclists, baby strollers, dog walkers, scooters, skaters. crosswalks can be busy, and we wait for everyone, which we really do stress, on foot or

bicycle, to safely cross before entering. with may not stop for us, which we are aware of, so we do not proceed into a crosswalk until signaled by the guide. do not startle anyone. segways are very quiet. we slowed down and announce our presence by voice. we tell other users we are behind them and call out which side we will be entering on. many visitors to not have phones and to not hear us coming, so we greet everyone. head-on with a segway can be confusing, so we slowed to a stop and tell the other group what side we are going to pass on, give them time to figure out we are not an alien riding on a magical hovercraft through the part -- debate park -- through the park. the guard and volunteers work hard to keep the park looking as

beautiful as it does, so we do our part as well. just like life, there are bumps in all of our roads. your guide will use a radio narration system to point out most of the hazards along the roads, and this is not -- [buildings -- [bell rings] supervisor mar: what do you do if someone violates the etiquette? >> we do let them know that if they are not listening to their guide at any point, they will be taken off their torpor -- there -- their tour, and the guide will call one of us, and we will come them -- come pick them up, so they do not have a chance to read the -- to ride the segway back, either. >> i am one of the managers of the company at fisherman's wharf. i visit golden gate park

regularly to go to the museum or just have to index and walk around. i'm here to talk to you today about who licenses and regulates us and the outreach program that we did win starting golden gate park. segways have been regulated by the state and city since 2002. they outline the specific equipment designs classifications and rules and penalties for not complying. to operate in san francisco and in sausalito, we have folks looking up what we do. the national park service permit with annual review, and guest experience recap. we are one of only three national park permits in the country. the national park service permit, and we all have cpr and medical training requirements for all the guides. we have a sausalito business license, and we have a five-year

contract with the city recreation and park department to operate a guided tour, and any deviation from the route changes must be approved in advance. we operate in the transportation task force and public realm committees for fisherman's wharf, and we belong to and the anticipate with numerous traffic, business -- travel, business, and civic organizations here we had three public hearings in front of the board. we have done months of public outrage and toys for numerous groups, individuals, and neighborhood associations. we have done 45 days of test, training without incident or complete. when we started the golden gate park office, part of our outreach was to walk sf, and we invited them on our fisherman's wharf and golden gate park tours. we also offered the segways for staff and board members to learn more about, and they declined

both invitations, saying it would not be appropriate. >> good morning, supervisors. thank you for the opportunity to speak in front of you. i live in san francisco's nob hill district, and i have been a guide for several years now. i'm just going to read parts of the letter that was provided to us on behalf of a local resident, and i will give this to you when i'm done. "dear supervisors, i'm writing in reference to a hearing scheduled march 14 in reference to a contract the city has entered with the electric tour company. my understanding is certain groups are opposing these out of a concern for safety for other uses where they are proposed to operate. it is my belief based on my experience as a segway owner and

operator that these complaints are groundless and should not prevent them from proceeding with this contract did tour services. i'm a resident of district 7 and an employee of salesforce.com i am an owner of model i2. i have operated it nearly 1,500 miles, many of which have been navigated in san francisco. opponents to the operation include a group that supported san francisco ordinance 241-02, which banned operations of epa md's on public transit. walk sf is one such group, and their web page includes a list of arguments that were largely

speeches including speculative and groundless claims, which have been proven false over the years on the use in other cities in california and the united states. these assertions should not be used in any assertion a committee may make with respect to the operation of electric" -- [bell rings] thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. i am -- i live in the haight- ashburty district. i am an electric bike tour guide. i have firsthand knowledge of bicycles and pedestrians and segways and bike lanes of san francisco, and i use the golden gate park, myself, quite a lot. navigating segways and bicycles

and pedestrians is not only doable, but it is an everyday occurrence. it is easy and fun to do. thank you. >> good morning. i'm one of the tour guides -- i am a senior tour guide. i have been doing to was for over 500 years, both in san francisco, fisherman's wharf area, and in sausalito. probably got in sausalito, we do a lot of the group areas -- multi-use areas, sidewalks, boardwalks. that sort of thing. it is very fun and safe. the people in blue behind me, first and foremost, we are instructors, and then tour guides after that. thank you. supervisor mar: thank you. >> good morning, supervisors.

my name is maria o'donnell. i am a segway tour guide with the electric for company. this is what we use so people can hear our instructions on the tour. it is a radio. we have individual earbuds which we have new for each customer, which they are welcome to keep after. throughout the entire store, we are talking to them, giving them instructions, i am telling them about safety things, alerting them to pedestrians, cars, pot holes, bumps. i am always in constant contact with them. just so we are visible, we also where our jackets. you can really see. there is no way to miss us. the most thing is safety. i always make sure that everyone knows what they are doing.

before we go on the tour, the training is so thorough, if i ever feel someone does not understand or if there is a problem, or will not be safe on the tour, we ask that they do not go on the door and we give them a refund. the main thing that we stress, besides safety and informing, is safety. supervisor mar: i think you were my trainer. >> i was. i hope i trained you well. my name is tracy roberts, a resident of the haight-ashbury district. i often visit the park, not only for taurus, but walking through with my dog, and experiencing as a pedestrian. i have experienced firsthand, working with a lot of people with disabilities.

like mary said, if they do not passed training, if they are not comfortable, they are happy not to do so. we are happy to invite everyone with disabilities if they're able to before the scheduled tour to try it out to see if they are comfortable with it. four instances really stand out to me in my experience as a tour guide. one woman had polio, another with ms, two men -- one elderly man i took out 88 years old. another man who had one leg. all four of them were not able to walk on their own, but were able to stand up on their own they needed help on and off, but when they were there, they describe the time of their life, they had not felt that confident in years. i felt honored to share that experience with them. i really